The horror genre has been on a serious roll for the past few years, with tons of new and exciting projects arriving in theaters, and making tons of money in the box office. They've also largely been critical hits, with movie like Get Out, Hereditary, and A Quiet Place showing what the genre was capable of. But there's also plenty of horror missteps in the record books, with one of the most infamous being Exorcist II: The Heretic. Following up on one of the scariest and most successful horror films of all time, the second Exorcist was a critical disaster that failed to perform as well at the box office. Linda Blair reprised her iconic role as Regan in the sequel, and recently spoke to why she signed on for the project, saying:
Finally, one day, the script appears. And I felt like, Wow, this project is amazing, it's perfect, it's fabulous. They presented a really good next step, for the film, for the project, for Regan. You give me these amazing actors. Richard Burton, for me, that was what got me. To work with Richard Burton, that's still, to this day, is one of the highlights of my life.
While Exorcist II: The Heretic is ultimately a blemish that followed the original movie's wild success, Linda Hamilton signed on for the opportunity to work with some A-list actors. That, and the story was so vastly different for Regan.
Lindai Blair's comments to Scream Factory are sure to surprise fans of the Exorcist franchise, given how poorly received Exorcist II: The Heretic ultimately was. The sequel feels almost nothing like the original, save for Blair's Regan and the supernatural element of the story. Other than that, it follows new priest, and greatly expands the mythological world of the universe. Some would say too much, as the narrative included psychics, demons, a succubus, and locusts.
Exorcist II: The Heretic might not have lived up to expectations, but Linda Blair will forever have a place in movie royalty. The Exorcist is arguably the most celebrated horror movie of all time, as it was the quintessential terrifying flick of its time. It was nominated for a whopping ten Academy Award nominations, ultimately taking home two of them. The Exorcist also earned an outstanding $441.3 million at the box office, one of the most profitable films of all time.
The Exorcist's massive success made The Heretic's performance all the more painful, given the high expectations. But the horror genre isn't one known for being consistently great. In fact, most sequels in long standing franchise aren't great. But since its so easy to make money from a horror film, they keep on being made.
Linda Blair actually has a new movie coming out called Landfill, which is in post-production. In the meantime, check out our 2018 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
